Taylor Guitars GA3

Solid sapele back/ sides (satin), gloss sitka spruce top, white plastic binding on body and neck, ebony board and bridge, chrome tuners, micro dot fret markers, grand auditorium body, 25 1/2 scale neck, Taylor hardshell case, no electronics. This is exactly what I was looking for-a classy, beautiful guitar with minimal feaures.

The sound was at once full and beautiful. Very balanced through the bass, mids, and highs. Very sweet highs and mids, tight bass. I recommend changing the Elixir strings to something else (I use Ernie Ball Slinky Acoustics).

This guitar was perfect. I was second guessing my purchase before it arrived-I started feeling like I had "settled" for the "3" series, but once it got here I realized that it was made just s well as the higher end models. It is absolutely a work of art, flawless construction. The gloss finish is beautiful and een, the satin is tasteful and comfortable. The fretboard and binding are a dream.

I am a bit scared to play it live, only because I don't want to damage it. It is very solid, great hardware. I look forward to years with this guitar.

Taylor seems to be a customer driven company.

I have been playing for about 20 years, have owned every guitar under the sun, and I always come back to Taylor. I have owned a 414ce, 314ce, 814ce, 810, 110, Big Baby, and Baby Taylor, all great guitars. This one is built and plays just as well as the higher end ones. I love it.

The Taylor GA3 is one of Taylors' newer guitar models, styled after the new and very popular GS series. They call this body a Grand Auditorium and it is somewhere between a Dreadnaught and 000 in size and looks. It has a nice medium radius 20 fret neck that can suit strummers, pickers, and fingerstylists well. It comes with a Taylor hardshell case and runs about $1000 dollars US. I got mine for $889 out the door from Woodsy's music in Medina, Oh. My guitar did not come with electronics, but this model is available with the expression system for about $300 more.

The GA3 comes with very basic appointments. It is definitely understated as far as bling goes, but if you are like me, you understand that looks are about the least important feature of a good acoustic guitar.

The GA3 has a beautiful gloss top made from solid sitka spruce. Mine has very nice silking, consistently tight grain, and very little run out. The rest of the guitar has a decent satin finish. The body is solid sapele (a mahogany like wood) and the neck is tropical American mahogany. The fretboard and bridge are striped ebony, which is surprising for a guitar in this price range.

as a side note, I am a "full gloss" guy and would have preferred it to the satin finish, but in this price range satin is the standard, and after playing this guitar for about 2 seconds I forgot to care that it was satin!!!

The other details including the bindings and rosette are plastic. The nut and bridge are Tusq, a composite that is supposed to be more consistent than bone. It has the big clunky Taylor tuners which work great and are, well, big and clunky... I will probably change them out with open back butterbean tuners at some point.

I have to start by saying that I am a Martin type guy... A VERY PICKY Martin type guy. In fact I would even go on to say that I am an acoustic guitar snob. I don't like cutaways, I don't like fancy electronics, I just like a good old fashioned acoustic guitar. I rarely ever have played a Taylor that I liked. They are all nice, but the sound didn't do anything for me. Not so with the GA3.

I was in Woodsy's getting some work done on my Strat, and I was hanging out, you know the drill, trying some of the different acoustics that they had hanging on the wall. Nothing really stood out. Then I picked up the GA3 with an "I don't know why I am even bothering with this" attitude. But with the first strum my world changed. I don't know how to describe what happened next but things changed. The guitar was alive.

I have played ALOT of different acoustic guitar over the past 5 years, probably hundreds, and there have been only 3 others (a Collings 000-2H, and a 1960s Brazilian/Adirondak Martin D-35, and a Martin D-16R) that hit me like this guitar. Every nuance, Every overtone and harmonic... it was like I couldn't play a wrong note.

And then I layed the pick down and started finger picking and the whole world changed again!!!

I'm not sure how long I was in the store, but when I stumbled back out into reality I knew I had to figure out a way to buy that guitar.

Long story short - I told my wife about it, and she explained that we just couldn't afford it. She was right. I thought maybe I could do layaway... I called the next day but Greg said it had been sold the day I was in there. My heart broke.

My wife saw how sad I was and spilled the beans. That night after I had talked with her about it, she stole out and bought it for my birthday. We have been married for 11 years now and she said she never saw me so smitten with anything, so she knew in her heart that she had to buy it. Man do I owe her ten years of favors!!!

As with most Taylors, the workmanship is acceptional. I have never played a "junkie" Taylor, though I have played some pretty beat up ones. I think that when you get into American manufactures the quality problems are alot fewer than when dealing with imports.

The factory setup was perfect. I like 13s and this one came with 12s, but it works so well that I have stayed with 12s.

Taylor has a lifetime warranty. They have an excellent record of standing behind their products. This guitar will last a very long time. I really take care of my instruments, so I don't anticipate issues.

Once again, I don't like satin finishes and I am sure this one will get wear marks as they all do, but honestly, the way this guitar sounds and plays, I don't really care.

Haven't used it as this instrument is brand new, but I have friends who have, and Taylor is about support. I have no worries.

I have been playing guitar consistenly since I was 15 (19 years oh my gosh!!!). I've been on the road when I was younger and had some (minimal) national airplay doing Chritian rock. My other great acoustic guitar is my Blueridge BR-160 rosewood dread. I also own a Stratocaster, an Ibanez 5 string bass, and lots of computer based recording softare and hardware (I run a small studio).

I would say that this guitar is FANTASTIC. A solid wood guitar under 100 bucks WITH EBONY!!! WHAT??!!!?? But besides all that it the sound that makes this the truly amazing guitar that it is.

If it were stolen I would definitely buy another one, if I could find one that sounded as good as this - but as you know, not all solid wood guitars are created equal.